“Everything about the voyage there was exhilarating, and I was never happier than when I spent times like those with my father. I wish I could imbed in all your minds the man he was so you’d know, understand. You’d understand why this expedition is so important.”
Will noticed everyone hung on Sir Mallory’s words like they were coming from a levitating magician. He peeked over his shoulder at his father, whose face was expressionless, but Will sensed distrust in the way his father crossed his arms and refused to sit like the rest of them. Plus, he’d interrupted Sir Mallory when he’d had the spotlight, dampening the mood.
He turned his attention back to Sir Mallory, who now squatted close to the flames in the fire pit, putting on a couple more logs to brighten the fire. “It’s the winds,” he said. “The gales here.” He looked up over Will’s head to his father behind him. “Sailing the Antarctic currents and temperatures, and all that goes with it is one thing, but the winds here, they change. Every hour or so. We’ve all felt it, but the deeper in you go, the more…” His eyes strayed down to Will’s own. “The more your body reacts to the motion those gales bring, those constant changes in your body leaking into your soul.”
Will stared back at him, stomach completely still. He couldn’t look away for anything.
He stood, now looking into the fire. He pushed the hood of his coat back. His cheekbones hollowed out a long, thoughtful face in the fire’s light. “It happened one night. We were on a small boat. Maybe ten of us, my father and I included.” He paced, looking at the cloudy, black sky. “That night we were attacked by a sea creature. It smashed the boat to bits in a second with its very teeth, so big it may as well have simply swallowed the whole little ship and us along with it in one go.”
He looked around the group before continuing. “My father saved my life. He got me away from it, into the sea and onto a piece of metal from the boat that was floating in the freezing water. I saw and heard my shipmates die at its bloodthirsty whims. And then, just when I believed we were going to be alright, when it was gone and the water had steadied, I smelled it. Oh yes, it has a very distinctive scent. It took my father from me then.”
He put his head down and rubbed his closed eyelids. Nancy stood up and touched his elbow, whispering if he was okay.
He nodded to her, patted her shoulder. “Thanks. Hard to talk about.” He looked around the group and began his pacing as Nancy sat back down. “The captain had called in for help already, and the creature left me alone for reasons I know not. Maybe I was too small to have a scent, but I was bleeding. I simply don’t know. After several hours, I was rescued.
“When asked what happened, I told no one. I didn’t think they’d believe me, and I was too horrified by it to speak of it yet.
“When pushed, I realized I had to say something, so I told everyone there had been a terrible storm.” He stopped pacing and stood in front of the fire pit, staring into it, his cheeks getting color back into them. “Captain Miller,” he said, looking up at Will’s dad. “Do you know of this creature?”
Will’s father put his hand on Will’s shoulder, but said nothing. He glanced at his sister, and his father’s other hand grasped her shoulder, too.
“My father called it a Megalodon, and after all my studies, I believe a Megalodon, the two-million-year extinct prehistoric giant shark, the apex predator, lives in the Drake Passage north of Elephant Island.” He kept his steady and intense gaze on Will’s dad. “They are not extinct; or, at least, one isn’t.”
Will’s father squeezed Will too hard as he said, “What exactly do you have in mind for us here, Mallory?” His voice was low, and rumbled with anger.
A low, tight breeze kicked in hard, and Will pulled his parka around him, ducking his head instinctively to block his eyes from drying out in the gust of wind. He didn’t get to see Sir Mallory’s expression, and his dad’s grip didn’t loosen.
Will shielded his face and eyes, and squinted up at Sir Mallory as the man called out over the sound of the wind, “I want to catch one.” His jaw set as he challenged Will’s father with his eyes, green and flashing in the brighter-than-ever firelight.
Will’s father pulled both him and Ellen to their feet in a sweeping movement by the scruffs of their coats. “Are you fucking mad?” he yelled over the wind, which had blown his hood off. His thin, brown-and-gray hair spun like cotton pulled every which way.
“Dad? What the hell?” Ellen said, yanking away from him.
Will tried to twist out of his grasp, but his father squeezed hard on his upper arm and spun him to face him. “You.” He looked at Ellen. “You take him, and you go to the bridge. We’re turning this ship around.”
“Captain Miller,” Sir Mallory yelled. “You have seen one. You know about the Megalodon here. You do!”
“What are you freaking out over, Dad? Are you okay?” Ellen said, hiding her face from the stinging breeze.
“Dad,” Will said, but his father ignored him and told Ellen again to take Will to the bridge. “Dad!” he called out, making sure to be heard. “Dad!”
Slowly, his father turned and looked down at him with worry etched in his face. “What?”
Will blinked. “Is it really a Megalodon? A giant shark?” He squinted as the wind changed direction. “Have you seen one?”
His father’s eyes saddened, and then went firm with resolve. “No, you two go now. That’s it. That’s all.” He pushed them toward the bridge, where Don Mack would be waiting to hear everything.
“We better go. I’ve never seen him like this,” Ellen said to him, pulling him along.
He glanced back, hearing Sir Mallory beg his father to at least speak in private with him before being so completely set against it. He had plans; he had somewhere nearby already built to take it…and then Will was out of earshot.
Ellen filled Don Mack in on everything that happened once they were on the bridge. Will’s stomach churned with the motion of the ship from the strong gales. He sat huddled in blankets on a chair, hanging his head out a side window, skin stinging, looking out at the black water churning around them. Once in a while, he heard raised voices.
He felt conflicted. Sir Mallory’s story was outrageous, but Will believed something happened. The man couldn’t have been more sincere as he told his story. His father’s reaction told Will that he knew something about it. Like, his father actually had seen the same sea creature at some point when he sailed down here way back when his carried a Glock.
As he closed his eyes to the shifting wind, anger brushed up inside him. His dad brought them all the way down to South America for months, and now to the deep Antarctic sea, and was going to turn around without explaining himself to Will? No, that wasn’t going to happen.
Will wasn’t one to stand up to his father about anything at all, but right then he thought he could have punched his dad in anticipation of the conversation they were going to have as soon as Will laid eyes on him again. For Will, there was no turning back.
Why? Because Sir Mallory was right. This would be one of the great adventures of his life, and he’d had so few. Sure, they might go hunting for the creature for a week and come home with nothing, but what if they didn’t? Sir Mallory would have to be pretty sure about where to go and what to do in this whole situation to finally bring it to fruition.
Will wasn’t going to let anything mess that up. Certainly not his father being overprotective.
True, in the end, his father had the yay-or-nay say, but Will had to know why, and it had to be the truth. And it had to defeat any reasoning Will could throw at it.
He opened his eyes and let them sting, tears from the wind blowing across his freezing cheeks. He didn’t look forward to a confrontation with his father, but he had to do it.
He thought of the huge tooth Sir Mallory had let him handle. The Megalodon tooth. Those spiked edges. How big would the giant shark be? Will couldn’t imagine catching one. Sir Mallory must have airtight plans, that was for sure. A giant shark was, indee
d, a great killer. To catch one would change Will’s life forever.
His father was going to use the tone on him, try to shut him down, but he wasn’t going to let him. Will was fighting for this with everything he had.
He also knew deep down that if anyone could change his father’s mind, it was him.
Chapter 4
“You will not question me,” Will’s father said quietly.
When he’d joined Ellen, Don Mack, and Will on the bridge, Will’s boiling point had been reached and he’d snapped. He’d yelled at his father, saying things he never thought could come out of his mouth directed at the man. Ellen had been stunned, and Don Mack simply kept steering, eyes forward.
Will’s dad told Don and Ellen to leave him alone with his son and took the wheel, back to Will.
“I will question you! You have to tell me why you won’t do this. What is it? Have you seen things? A giant sea creature? You had forty years before Ellen was born. What did you do during all that time?”
“Now’s not the time or place. I know best, and it’s not safe for you or Ellen, what Mallory proposed.” His dark eyes hardened and he kept his arms steady, standing tall.
Will stood up from his window. He felt tears threatening from the confrontation, fear and the intensity of speaking his angry mind to his father in his enraged state. “It could be the greatest thing any of us have done!” He glared up at his father.
He shook his head, looking down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“But you do. Why’d you bring us here, then? If you knew something might be out here, I mean.”
“I had no idea of Mallory’s true plans. They are ridiculous. Even if there were a giant sea creature, even a Megalodon, of all things, do you really think we’d stand a chance against it?”
“Sir Mallory said he had plans. They brought all that secret cargo onboard. They know what they’re doing.”
His father paused and his expression lightened a bit. “We don’t have the slightest clue what they have planned. All we heard was a man’s dream for a hunt and nothing to back up how it would be done.”
Will was not charmed by his father’s relaxed expression. His voice got rough as he said, “You didn’t even let him explain it. He offered to talk to you in private, tell everything, but no. You had to be hardheaded.”
His face got stern again. “I’m not risking two children, my children’s lives for this far-fetched fairytale. And if it is true, it’s too dangerous. So many things can go wrong. Will, I’m sorry. I like seeing you interested in something at sea, but this isn’t the way to go.”
Will pushed his hands down his face. Anger and reason weren’t working.
“When you’re older, you can make these decisions on your own. But you’re twelve. It’s my job to make these kinds of decisions for you.”
Will looked up at him. “If we weren’t aboard, would you do it?”
His father hesitated.
“Would you at least have heard Sir Mallory out? Before saying no?” Will prodded.
He shrugged, eyeing Will carefully. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not what’s happening.”
Will’s father wasn’t the affectionate type, but despite, Will walked over to him and grasped his shoulders in his gloved hands, turned him to face him. “Dad, I want to do this. I want this experience. Look at you. You’ve been through it all, seen things most people never even know exist.” He lowered his voice as his father met his eyes, unblinking, worried. “I want to do it. Dad. I’m old enough, strong enough. Nothing might happen. But something could. Please, for me, think. I need this.”
He let his hands slip from his father’s arms upon realizing his dad’s expression wasn’t changing. He turned and went back to his window. Without looking back at his father, he said, “You deserve to let me have this. Just this one thing. Of all the boats you dragged me on, all the moves for jobs, you never being there half the time, you owe me. And I’m old enough. I can take care of myself.”
He let the cold wind sting his nose and cheeks. His father must have gone because it was quiet for a long while. Will didn’t look behind him. It was so unfair. He’d finally spoken to his father as an equal, stood up for something, and the man ignored him and walked out without a word.
Suddenly, his father spoke. Will bonked his head on the top of the window frame in surprise at his baritone, soft and cracking. “You’re right.”
Will turned to him, away from the window. He had his arms at his sides, head cocked at Will.
“What do you mean, I’m right?”
“I’ll make a compromise with you. I’ll have that one-on-one talk with Mallory after I leave you. And I want you to sleep.”
“What are you going to ask him?”
His father rubbed his face. “I’m going to find out all the details of his plan. If I think it sounds like it will work, or couldn’t work, I will reconsider and make my decision.”
Will hopped up, standing a few feet from his father, eyes lit up with excitement. “For real? You mean it? But what changed your mind?”
He smiled at Will, the corners of his eyes cracking in weathered wrinkles. Quietly, he said, “When I was your age, Will, I lived on my own. I never told you that. That’s how I got into sailing. A crew took me on for work. I was twelve, just like you, and I could handle it. I suppose you can, too. But not until I hear all the plans Mallory has.”
“I just know he’s got this,” Will said, showing his trust in the knight.
His father’s face darkened a moment, and then he leaned down toward Will’s face, cupping him behind his neck. “I’m on your side. Remember that.”
Chapter 5
Sir Mallory certainly must have had everything planned to a T.
They arrived north of Elephant Island the next afternoon. Will hadn’t been able to sleep while his father sailed them just out of reach of Antarctica through ice, wind, and wild currents throughout the night.
He’d been with Sir Mallory for three and a half hours after leaving Will on the bridge the night before, Don Mack taking over for the time being, according to Will’s watch. He had been nervous, which had made his nausea worse, but when his dad finally came on the bridge afterward, relieved Don Mack of duty, and took the wheel, Will couldn’t help but at least utter, “Oh, yeah!”
His father then looked back at him. He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows, a glimpse of adventure in his eyes. Not something Will saw much of, and he liked it. That was that.
Will had been dying to hear details of the plans, but knew better than to pry. He’d said enough that night.
He went out on deck to feel how cold it was down there in the cloudy daylight air. He’d never been so far south. Surprisingly, a lot of people were out and about. A light snow fell, but they were fat flakes that blew away with the breezes.
Sir Mallory stood by a rail, looking into the sea below. Will walked up to him, thinking maybe he could ask a few questions about the plan. Drop leading hints, at least.
“Hi, Sir Mallory,” he said, now standing by his side. He looked down into the water in case Sir Mallory saw something cool, but Will saw nothing.
“Oh,” Sir Mallory said, head cocked at him with a smile. “You’re a ninja, of course you are. Didn’t hear you come up on me.”
He felt shy suddenly, not knowing what to say, but then Sir Mallory turned to him, elbow on the rail, and looked into his eyes. “You changed your father’s mind.”
Will’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.
“Your father respects you, and that is a great thing for a child to have from his parent.” He laughed softly. “What I’m curious about is, what made you want to do this?”
Will looked down a moment, but decided to be as short and honest as he could. “I want to try. I think you know what you’re doing, too.”
He chuckled, looking down. “I think you’ll like the facilities on Elephant Island. That is where I built the enclosure, and beyond is a compound with every comfort. Th
ere is a satellite feed.”
“Wow.” They both looked out over the snow flurries tapping the rough sea.
Finally, Will asked, “How are you going to find it? The Megalodon?”
“Well, as you might have noticed, I was a bit distracted when you approached. Sharks can detect small amounts of blood in water from miles away. This is the exact area I was attacked so long ago. This knife,” he said as he pulled a switchblade from behind his right hand, “was poised to slice my arm and spill blood into the water when you walked over. It’s sure to draw the sharks in the area, including the Megalodon. I’ll do it every day until we must leave.”
Will stared at the shiny silver blade. “Are you going to do it now?”
“I was going to, but I’d rather talk to you until you’re bored with me, and then I’ll do my part.”
Will eyed him. “I want to see.”
Sir Mallory raised an eyebrow to him, and then rolled up the many sleeves on his left arm. In a quick slash, he made an inch gash across his forearm and bent over the rail, squeezing his own blood into the Antarctic sea below.
Will winced, hiding it from Sir Mallory. It had to hurt, but the man made no expression.
Sir Mallory wrapped a piece of linen around the wound and tucked his arm back into volumes of clothes. “Now we wait.”
“Dad didn’t tell me, but what happens if…one comes?” He couldn’t get more hint-laden than that.
He grinned broadly. “I’m going to put it into a deep sedation, tow it to my enclosure built just for it, and show the world over satellite what exists here in the Drake Passage. Simple as that. If you believe in such a thing, I think one could say it’s written that way in the stars.”
Will grinned.
“Now, the blood’s done, I have to get some of my men ready in case it shows. It comes fast, but we’re faster and we have sonar, equipment. Top-of-the-line. Will, you keep an eye out, too. You have a keen sense of observation.” He smiled once more and walked away toward some of his people.
Megalodon: Apex Predator Page 3